Nothing is fair in Love and War
by Belikovbabe
Summary: War after war, loss after loss, how long will it take for Katara to forgive Zuko? And when other boys fight for her heart, how far will Zuko go to win? Find out in this story!  remember i do not own avatar- the creator of the show does  ENJOY :


**Hi everybody! Here's a new story that I hope will be good. haha. I try my best :) Anyway, I really love Zutara and I am hoping that you will too. Please review! I will update more very soon**

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><p>The Solstice was here. Heart racing I headed toward Appa. After days and days of preparing and practicing I was still unsure of how this would turn out. Fire lord Ozai, the destroyer of most of the world, was extremely powerful. Too powerful, I think, for Aang to defeat. Even though the Fire lord wouldn't have fire for eight minutes, he would still have brutal strength.<p>

Uneasily I hopped on Appa after Toph. Sokka followed just moments behind us, holding his boomerang and his hand crafted sword. I held my healing water. Next came Jet. He landed out of nowhere in between Sokka and I. Chewing on a piece of hay, he gave me a sly smile. Honestly I didn't know how he could still be so cocky and self assured. We were about to go to the heart of the fire nation and try to kill one of the most powerful fire benders. Then again, that is exactly why he signed up to do this. He wanted Ozai dead as soon as possible. I sighed, suddenly feeling queasy. I was scared for all of them. For Aang, Jet, Toph, Sokka, and of course my dad who would be meeting us there.

"Ready to go Katara?" Sokka asked me from the rear of Appa. I put on my most believable smile for my brother, not wanting to disappoint him, and then I nodded. Sokka turned to his right and asked Aang the same question. Aang would be flying with his staff.

"Yup!" His optimism was almost blinding. He didn't realize that he could quite possibly die today.

"Alright, see you in a few minutes." I said to Aang. "Yipp yipp!" I told Appa. Then once again, we were up in the air, heading toward the fire nation. Ever since my mom had been taken by them I would've never thought I would be going there willingly.

I sat near the head of Appa with my knees tucked to my chest. I rested my head on my knees, taking deep breaths. I didn't know why I was so scared. I had been in many fights before now. What was so different about this time? Oh right, this was Ozai, not some random pirate who didn't know how to bend anything. This was Zuko and his insane sister, Azula. And this was also another battle that could kill my best friends, brother, and father…my last parent. No big deal…

As I sat alone, I twirled some water between my fingers. I needed to relax. I needed to relax fast too because we only had 20 minutes left until we got to our destination.

"Hey." I looked over to see Jet. He looked into my eyes thoughtfully. "You okay?"

"Yeah." I didn't want to elaborate.

"Yeah? I don't believe you." He stated. He took the hay out of his mouth and his smile slowly slipped away into a more serious face that I have never seen on him before.

"I'm just nervous. That's all." I shrugged and turned away from him. He placed his hand on my shoulder and made me face him.

"You'll do great. You are the best water bender I have ever seen."

"That's because I am the _only _water bender you have ever seen."

"True…but I still think you'd be the best." His smirk returned. He studied me for another second and his eyebrows pushed together. "There is something else bothering you isn't there?" It amazed me how someone who was once a crazy-town-destroying-badass could understand me so well.

"It's just…what if we fail?" I bit my lip.

"Then we can try again later. Listen, don't worry about it. We are all trained really well. Especially me." His smile grew as he bragged about himself.

"I guess you are right."

"Of course I am." He chuckled and stuck the hay back in his mouth. I took another deep breath again and felt a lot of my worry slip away. Jet really did help.

"Sokka, you have been incredibly quiet during all this." I realized. I looked over my shoulder to the back of Appa and discovered why. He had stuffed two pieces of bread in his mouth and was attempting to swallow them. Jet and I started laughing at him seeing how oblivious he was to us.

"Werrt?" He yelled. I assumed he was saying "What." Our laughter grew once Sokka began choking on the bread.

"That's what you get for taking all the food for lunch." I commented.

"Ha ha very funny." He noted sarcastically.

After that we rode in silence. It was a good silence that definitely weakened my stress. It was only five minutes before we got there that I felt Jet's hand slip over mine. I peeked over and he was absentmindedly playing with his hay and looking off into the sky ahead of us. I squeezed his hand not knowing what he meant by it. He glanced over at me happily and then back to the clouds that were floating only just above our heads.

Filled with renewed confidence, I slid off of Appa when he landed on the ground. I noticed that my dad had already arrived and was at the loading docks where he kept their ships. I ran over to him and hugged him. He kissed the top of my head and then hugged Sokka who stood beside me.

"Are you two ready?" He asked. We both nodded. "Okay, and you both remember the plan?" we nodded again. Our father, robust and dedicated, smiled down at us. Then he kneeled down before us, holding our hands. "I just want to tell you how proud I am of each of you." His fierce eyes softened making him look more like a dad than a warrior. "Katara," He turned to me. "Your are so powerful at just this age. You have grown so much. And Sokka." He looked at his son. "You are a great warrior in the making. I have never seen someone so young think of such wise war tactics." I agreed with my father. Sokka had thought of much of the plans that we were going to carry out today.

My dad stood back up, giving us each one last hug. Then he marched over to his army he had put together.

"Alright men, you know our mission. Make sure the avatar has a clear path to the fire lord." Then he pointed to different people to assign their positions. "Swamp bender, you are in tank four…" He continued down the line of warriors.

While he spoke with the confidence I wish I had, I looked at the fire nation palace. It towered over the walls that raced across it border. Crimson and sharp, the palace intimidated me more than the people in it. Next I looked up in the sky. The sun and moon were so close. The day of black sun was finally here.

I went back on Appa and watched as my dad's army began to knock down the walls of the city. From a bird's eye view I saw as the entire scene unfolded. It looked like red ants were piling out of their home. Swords clanking, water swooshing, fire exploding, people fell to the ground. Suddenly butterflies flew quickly in my stomach. Appa had started to speed forward in the sky once Sokka had told him to. Everything was happening so fast. It was almost a blur.

"Let's do this!" Jet stood up on Appa looking valiant. He had his hands on his hips, his hay in his mouth, and his swords shining in their holster.

"Jet, sit down before you fall." Sokka said. Jet pretended not to hear and began swinging his sword around. Sokka sighed. Then Appa descended. I saw Aang still using his glider and heading to the palace. We needed to get to him quick to help.

Once inside the walls we jumped off Appa and ran to Aang. I covered my arms with water to defend myself from the fire warriors. They blasted fire balls in my direction and I blocked them with a swipe of my arms. Sokka on the other hand ran to the heart of the battle with his sword. I stayed at a distance. I couldn't even see where Jet was, but I knew not to worry about him.

"Sokka we need to go!" I yelled to him over the roar of the fight. He glanced over to me for a split second and nodded. Then Jet was by my side. He grabbed my hand and started pulling me to Aang. Sokka followed not far behind once some of dad's people fought off Sokka's attacker for him.

We ran straight through the battle until we reached Aang. With ease, we snuck up on the guards and knocked them out. WHAM! We broke down the door and sprinted up the stairs of the palace and down the halls. When we found King Ozai's room we opened the door only to find his daughter.

"I was wondering how long it would be before you got here." She said, twirling her hair between her fingers. "But now that you are here, I'm going to guess you want to find my father." The five of us looked over at each other not knowing what to say. "Well I can tell you, he is not here. Do you really think he would be so stupid as to stay here when his fire was inaccessible? Please! But if you'd like to battle me, I can assure you that would make my day." She gave us a sinister smile and created fire in her hands. It was only a matter of time before the Solstice arrived.

"We aren't here to fight you. Where is King Ozai?" Aang demanded. I could tell he was frustrated. He would fail if we didn't find the fire lord in time.

"Why would you even bother asking me that? I'm never going to tell you."

"Well then we will make you tell us!" Said Toph.

"Oh really? I dare you." Azula narrowed her eyes. Next thing I knew Jet was racing toward her with his swords drawn. She sent lightning at him and he dodged them like a pro. Then Sokka came at her. She handled both of them at the same time. Toph followed. She earth bended from a fair distance but Azula was too quick on her feet. She began to jump from the walls and tables in the room. Aang flew near her, air bending. To my amazement, she still fought each of them naturally using her fire and other war skills. Then I knew it was my turn to join the fight. Taking water from a nearby pipe, I splashed it at her. Obviously she deflected it. She pushed her hand for more fire but none came. For a split second we all glanced at each other. We had missed it. We hadn't even found the fire lord and the Solstice was here! Azula had just been teasing us to distract us.

"Let's leave! We still have a few minutes to find him!" I shouted to the others. They quickly followed suit and we darted from the room.

"You won't get away so easily! I may not have fire, but I do have them." Azula shouted after us. She pointed to the ceiling and then, like spiders, they fell from ropes. Earth benders- the bad oens. They charged after us and we fought them off while we ran. It wasn't easy but we did hold them off until we got out of the palace. A rock spontaneously popped out in from of me and I didn't have fast enough reflexes to avoid it. I tripped over it and landed on pointy rocks that one of the earth benders had created. Reluctantly I screamed. I got up and wiped the blood from my face. My cheek had received a nasty gash that was dripping blood onto my neck.

"Katara are you okay?" I heard my dad's feet stomping in my direction. He kneeled down and helped me up.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I wiped my blue sleeve against my cheek again, in attempt to soak up the blood. I looked over my dad's shoulder and saw Prince Zuko fighting behind him. He was fighting…another fire bender! Confusion filled me. Why was he helping us?

Suddenly Zuko sent a huge streak of fire to the other fire bender. Instead of deflecting the fire like he had been doing before, he just stepped to the side to dodge it. The streak kept going because it already had so much energy. Next thing I knew, my father was lying on the ground. A hole in his shirt was burned away. The missing fabric now left his chest exposed. His skin was still on fire and I quickly put it out with some water. But it was too late.

I wanted to scream for help, but I froze up. Not a word came out when I opened my mouth wide. Finally after staring blankly down at his body, I started to move. I knelt down and shook him.

"Dad! Dad, wake up!" I shouted. I leaned over him, as tears ran down my face like an unrelenting waterfall. He turned his head and looked straight into my eyes. He was in pain, I could tell. He gave me a slight smile.

"It's all going to be fine Katara." He whispered. It was barely audible compared to all the noise around me.

"No, dad don't give up yet!" I pleaded desperately. I looked up from him and searched for Sokka. Luckily, he was nearby.

"SOKKA!" I yelled. He heard me and quickly fended off his attacker. He ran to me and gasped at what he saw. Sokka fell next to dad on the opposite side. He held him in his lap.

"Dad are you okay?" It was a stupid question but Sokka asked it anyway. My father just smiled a sad smile at Sokka and me.

"I love you so much and I am so proud of both of you. So, so proud." He said.

"No dad, don't leave us yet!" Sokka began to cry. I sobbed until I felt the tears drip through my shirt. Sokka and I carried him over to a more private place, where war wasn't happening just near us. We set him down easily. As we did we heard him take his final breath. I gasped and hugged his limp body. My only parent left was now dead.

"I love you too." Sokka whispered quietly to him.

After that I couldn't get back up. I sat there holding my dad's hand and cried. Sokka on the other hand said his goodbye and got back up to fight. He said that's what dad would want him to do. Soft tears still ran down his face as he picked up his boomerang and left.

"I'll miss you dad." I said to him. Then I shut his eyelids so he could be more at peace. About two minutes past after that when I heard footsteps. I guessed it was one of my friends coming to see me, so I didn't bother looking up. I couldn't look away from my dad.

"Katara." The person spoke. His voice was familiar and definitely not one of my friends. It belonged to Zuko. Who just killed my dad.

"Get out of here." I demanded sternly. My voice was hoarse and scary. I almost sounded possessed. It alarmed me.

"I'm really sorry. I didn't mean-"

"I said get out of here."

"Listen to me. I was trying to protect you! The man moved and I slipped up. You saw me. You saw what happened. I was fighting a fire nation warrior." Suddenly I felt his hand on my shoulder. It was too much.

"It doesn't matter!" I yelled. I whipped around to look at him. I stood up and tried to get more to his height. It didn't work though. "It doesn't matter if it was an accident or not! The point is you killed him! You practically killed my mother too. I will never forgive you so don't try to apologize. Ever. Again." I took a step closer with each outburst until I was poking his chest with fury. Hot tears streamed down my face. I was probably just overreacting, but at the heat of the moment, I couldn't help but get my emotions out.

"What can I do to make you forgive me?" He asked taking a step back. He looked bewildered, like he didn't realize how angry I could get. But I am a girl, and he should know that all girls have extreme emotions when they really want to.

"You can bring them both back." I said harshly. He sighed and shut his eyes for a moment. Then he looked into my eyes and turned his back to me and walked off. I stared after him then collapsed to the floor and crawled back over to my father.

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><p><strong>Please keep reviewing and reading! There will be more to come<strong>


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